


Breaking the habit

by ElisZelis



Category: Defense of the Ancients | Dota, Dota 2
Genre: Blood and Gore, F/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:47:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27254431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisZelis/pseuds/ElisZelis
Summary: Hey there, I am a novice writer. Unfortunately English isn't my first language so I am sorry in advance for any grammar mistakes. I hope you'll enjoy it ˆˆ
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, I am a novice writer. Unfortunately English isn't my first language so I am sorry in advance for any grammar mistakes. I hope you'll enjoy it ˆˆ

It was evening, the sun was slowly setting and painting the sky red. Even though the sky seemed warm, the weather was rather cold. The winter was slowly but surely coming after all. Boulders by the path seemed even colder than normal. He had to be aware because the nearby village was bothered by wild animals and the locals were laying traps after them. Stepping in one of those foothold traps would be very unpleasant and painful. Not to mention that some of them were already old and rusted, considering the financial state of the villagers, and they could cause serious blood sepsis. The meadow was full of weed, high grass, and already faded flowers. Yet that morning was raining and due to lack of sunshine in those hours was the hayfield still soggy. He didn’t even have to rush. He came to the highest peak of the meadow through the damp, high grass, and sat to a giant trunk of the linden tree. He was watching the sunshine. It was really an imposing view. Autumn trees were playing with bronze and gold and they were losing their leaves. Birds were slowly growing silent and the sun with beautiful alpenglow was reflected in the flowing river.

He overlapped his weapons on the ground with leaves, so that their glow wouldn‘t draw unwanted attention. Throwing a hood over his head, he crossed his arms on his chest and waited.

~Δ~

She ran. She must have run. Even though she knew it would be in vain. The path seemed unending. It led between boulders and across a meadow. There was already a trackway. She ran next to it in the hope to confuse her persecutor. The trail ended by a river beyond which was a great dark forest that could become her haven. But there was no bridge leading across. She had no choice. She had to move on. Either she died or her time will extend for a bit. It will take much more time to cross the river to him without risking catching a cold and lessen his effectivity in combat. Maybe that it wouldn’t be that noticeable, but it would surely help her a bit.

She closed her eyes, washed away bad thoughts with a spark of hope, and focused on the river in front of her eyes. She extended her hands to the river and started casting a spell. A not-really-stable magical bridge started to form after a while. She conjured it up quickly so that she could run as soon as possible. She didn’t have time to invoke a spell and recover after that for a few minutes. She didn’t have time for almost anything. Not even thinking. She unhesitatingly threw herself on the bridge, surprised that it didn’t fall.

The river was around 30 feet wide, so she was on the other side within moments. _How will he do, huh?_ She thought with a triumphant smile while turning about-face. She looked to the other side of the river from where her death was supposed to come from and smiled. _Not today. Not today._ The bridge faded into the void from where he came and she was spinning to run away. Whilst therein it seemed as if she saw someone across the river. Her heart stiffed and her stomach clenched again.

„Thou cannot run from me,“ he shouted from the other side, weirdly calmly, while standing on the strand like a stone.

„We’ll see!“ She shouted back, made a few steps behind, and ran away from him. She had a lead, even though it was not big. And she needed a small while to rest.

After a long run, she hid behind a tree, exhausted she let her back fall against it and slowly sunk to the ground. _Just a moment…_ Her breathing was heavy. She supported her head against the trunk and she gazed into the dark sky. When therein she saw almost unnoticeable, a dim streak of light in the direction of the river. _Did someone transport him across?_ She thought terrified. Shaking her head she got up from the ground and ran-up further. Suddenly she heard a snap of metal. Sharp tremendous pain shot through her leg which made her scream and fall to the ground.

„Shit,“ she growled and caught her calf. _Now I’m done with. He will find me! Find and kill me!_ Her eyes were watering with tears of pain and grief. She used her remaining magical power in agony to open the foot trap a bit and get her leg out with her hands. Blood was running from the deep wound and it unearthly hurt. She couldn’t run anymore.

He was coming for her.

~Δ~

Sun was already setting, birds were growing silent and Magina heard how some figure was nearing him through the meadow. It ran next to his previously beaten down path. The figure ran past him in direction of the river. It’s breathing was frantic and deep. It gasped as if it ran tens of minutes in tandem. He smiled with his head tilted down because it was crystal clear to him, who it was. Scour her to an outlying village with traps all around, that were only waiting for aught-knowing animals running through the forest. _Driven animals._ He was watching the girl as she stopped by a house right next to the river. She was looking around and then began to hex. _So desperate that she must use … magic._ He thought and his smile widened even more.

He dug up his weapons from the leaves and hung them on the holders he had on his back. He threw a cloak over himself, crouched down, and silently went into her direction. He heard as she quickly mumbled some incantation and some dim light started to form right above the river. His brow twitched and he frowned, his face showing disgusted grin. He approached a tree by the river, almost next to the girl.

Without thinking she jumped on the bridge and ran away as quickly as she could while concentrating on the spell and Magina observed her. She turned in his direction and superiorly smiled. _And now … I will have fun._ Once she wasn’t paying attention to the path in the meadow and began to turn around, he blinked at the same place she was standing by the house. He noticed as the girl petrified in place, in a half-turn, and this time her gaze turned right onto him. The smile faded from her face a moment ago, while his returned.

„Thou cannot run from me,“ he shouted across the river while unwaveringly staring at her. She was hesitating for a while. She didn’t know what to say. Apparently.

„We’ll see!“ She screamed back and she stumbled to run away into the dark forest. He hesitated if he should end her suffering now but decided to grant her the spark of hope that she’ll live.

 _„Driven animals.“_ He whispered pensively. Magina stopped looking into her direction and observed the outskirts. The village was sleeping just like the orchestra of birds and the sun. The only things that were audible were bugs in the trees, bushes, high grass, and by the calmly fizzing river. The moon was illuminating everything around with its silver glow and stars began to make their way on the otherwise dark sky. He realized that he was admiring the local nature for too long now. _Time ran out._

He imagined in his Mind’s eye the other strand of the river. He leaped out into a half-turn, absolutely disappeared for a few milliseconds, and then appeared at the other side of the river, finishing his turn, slightly bending his knees at the impact with the ground. He walked further from the river so that the fizzing didn’t cover his hearing. He focused his sight ahead and stopped after a few meters. He stood there as if nailed down and listened to the surroundings. The deafening silence was ruling over the forest. The fizzing river was hardly noticeable, so no sound would escape his hearing. Equally as his sight because the forest was coniferous and the trees didn’t have any branches even around two meters above the ground. But the sound that caught his ears wasn’t even quiet. It was a snapping trap and a shriek.

 _„Bingo,“_ he said to himself and went into the direction where the sound came from.

The ground of the forest was damp and covered with a thick layer of needles. Trees around him were looming like pillars and thanks to the moonshine, they were throwing a long, dark shadow. He walked composedly knowing it was surely her, who caught into the trap. She won’t get far now.

Blood and the trap could be seen on the ground from behind the trees but the girl was nowhere to be found. There was nowhere to hide in that forest. A man could have seen everywhere and with such a bad wound, she couldn’t even stand in one place. Let alone go somewhere. Magina was looking around and he listened to the surroundings. Until a brooklet of blood made it’s way to his foot. He slowly turned his head to the tree by his right and directed his gaze further up. And then he caught sight of her. She was holding on to the tree for dear life and caused the blood to flow even more from the wound by the pressure she was putting on the leg. It was rather possible that if he didn’t notice her, she would sooner or later bleed out.

„Who the hell brings us…,“ he said, his lips forming an almost unnoticeable smirk.

„Rather you, you bitch!“ She bellowed painfully and spitted down. Magina was just watching the saliva as it flew by and landed on the ground in front of him. He was watching it for a while and then turned his gaze back to the girl. He inspected the trees nearby. They were planted in avenues so they were always opposite each other. He came to the tree that was next to the one the girl held onto. He bounced in between the trees two times and grabbed on the cropped remain of a branch, few feet under the terrified girl. He drew himself higher up with his hands so that he could have a place to stand on and climbed closer to her. She tried to pull herself further up the trunk but she couldn’t with the strength she already expended to hold on to the tree the whole time. Thus she tried to spit at him at least. With every saliva that he didn’t evade, his patience – which he normally had plenty of – was running thin. Especially with those like her.

He swung to her, grabbed her by the collar, and accompanied by her scream blinked to the ground. He fell on the knees and smashed her to the ground on purpose to take away her breath. She was jerking herself for a while trying to catch her breath back. She inhaled deeply after a while and began to swear while sobbing. He let go of her and got back up on his feet. He took off his hood from his almost bald head except for a cerise mohawk. His face was adorned with dark cyclamen symmetrical tattoos. One line on each side of the head – on top and at his sunken cheeks leading over his wider lower jaw to his neck. One wide line lead from under his nose over his brow and under his hair to the back of his head. Eyes were inhumanly colored – his whites weren’t white but purple-grey, irises and pupils almost white that they emanated a dim light.

„Who the fuck are you?“ She growled while crying. But he didn’t say anything. He was just watching her with his frighteningly cold, stone-like expression. „Why are you silent?! Say something! Go on! Why do you wanna kill me? What the hell did I ever do to you?! Don’t you have some mercy on a stupid girl, who caught herself like an idiot into a trap on animals?!“ He was still silent. He was just staring at her. An almost unnoticeable smirk crawled on his face. _Driven animals…_

She probably noticed his smile, because her face was soon filled with disgust and humiliation.

„Do you find it funny to look at someone who will probably die without help? Do you find it funny to look at a normal helpless girl?! Huh?!“ She shouted while dragging herself back to the nearest tree. Magina’s face changed to fed up and disgusted and he rapidly closed the distance between them.

„If thou were a normal girl? No. But what are thou? Monster killing an innocent on the street, thinking thou can hide it with some …,“ his face twisted even more, „abominable…magic.“

„I am a monster? And who the fuck is chasing who across such distance and scours into a foot trap on animals?!“ She shouted and spat him right into his face. „Like some driven animal!“

Magina only raised his eyebrow and wiped the saliva on his face with the back of his hand. His patience ran out. He laughed at her, to humiliate her even more.

„You are a fucking psychopath! Fucking crackpot who brought me to the grave only because you find magic … abominable! I didn’t choose this life, you idiot!“ She yelled and tried to throw nearby objects from the ground at him.

„I also did not …“ He stopped laughing and his face was like a stone again. His voice lowered back to a cold, emotionless barytone. „I would lie, if I told thee that I did not take joy in observing the … the forlornness with which thou ran next to the beat down path in the meadow to trick me into thinking they were there from the villagers. Thou ran past without noticing me by that tree. The forlornness that made thee forget about the traps laid in the forest. The desperate effort to escape that, which is inevitable.“ He paused for a moment and watched her reaction. „But I would exaggerate if I told thee that I indulge it.“ He backed away from her and watched her with a slight frown.

The girl was looking in front of her for a moment as if he didn’t stand there. As if her soul was somewhere outside this world. _He was waiting for her all the time. He wasn’t behind. She didn’t have the lead. Never. He had the lead. In everything. Everything that she thought was real till this moment, was a lie. He was waiting for her all the time until she alone would run onto his cutting edge. If there wasn’t that luring path with which she could trick him, fading into the unknown, into the dark forest where he could never find her I fit wasn’t for those traps. If it wasn’t for him, beating down that path while being ahead of her. But … how?_

She didn’t even try to throw anything at him anymore. She was just soullessly sitting, tears flowing down her cheeks in brooks with the awareness of her time that ran out. For good. She saw as her persecutor was closing his eyes and with head tilted down formed a gesture with his hands close to his chest. Then he opened them and fiercely jerked his hands behind his back with a step backward.

A sharp wave of blinding light passed through the forest with an ear tearing sound. For a while, there was audible only the clapping of wings of scared birds flying away and then … silence.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YEEEEEEEEEET, here is another chapter!! ^_^ I hope you are enjoying it so far :) I hope this chapter will be understandable, because - again, a disclaimer - English isn't my first language. Feel free to leave a comment on what you think about it! ^_^ I'll be really grateful <3

Markets in Weeping Rose were always over-filled with crowds of either people or all kinds of creatures. Stalls were literally packed with the most various goods from a simple bread, over armor and weapons to books of assorted genres and flowers of all kinds. It was afternoon and the sun still uncomfortably shone him in the face. Heat and fug were rising in the crowd as all of the beings were squashed on each other to get the best wares that were offered. Magina was making his way through the sweated crowd and pushed the bodies that weren’t therewith to sidestep away from him. He was only in the half of the main square and the closest street was several meters ahead. _Damn it…_ He rolled his eyes into his skull while pushing himself away from someone’s furry shoulder.

„Watch where you’re going, you idiot!“ Said resentfully it’s owner in an undertone. Magina didn’t even look back and was making his way further through the enormous mass of creatures. Being in such crowds didn’t make him feel really good. He was hypnotizing the street, that was most probably the salvation against dying from hypoxia. After many beings that either pushed him away or he pushed them, his hands finally touched the corner of the street. He quickly drew himself to it and barged into the whitehall. Only a few people that didn’t fit into the main street were standing by. He leaned onto the wall, crossed his hands on his chest, and enjoyed the sufficiency of fresh air while watching the still-pressing folk. He shook his head with a frown and rather looked into a dark, almost empty corridor. It was branching out into smaller ones, which could at night be a place for an unpleasant meeting for any woman. His target was a local mage called Ravkel, who was raping women and stealing from men at night with his copartners. He was able to get into the mind of his prey, in which he found the one he knew or was missing the most. Ravkel lured the victim out of hiding, his gang got a better layout meanwhile, and then they gripped the creature as if into a trap. It was just as disgusting as the magic that he was using for it. Magina lightly pushed himself away from the wall with his foot and went into one of the out-of-the-way corridor. He dispelled an illusion of a wall and hid his weapons in a small niche that appeared. As soon as he stepped out from it, the illusion got back. He threw a hood over his head and took the direction of a local tavern, where the most various elements of the whole city were meeting up.

~Δ~

He opened the door into the pub, where there weren’t many creatures yet in those late afternoon hours, and walked to the table in the very corner of the room while looking at the other guests. Some of them were sitting out of the corridor where he was walking with suspicious looks and silent whispers. Magina wasn’t paying attention to them and rather sat at the table and began slowly flipping a coin that he took from a pocket on his belt. A dumpy bartender wearing a brown leathery apron was looking at him just as everyone did and after a while of hesitation went to him.

„What will ye want?“ He asked unkindly and leaned his hands on his sturdy hips. Magina only hove his sight.

„Water,“ he said after a while and resumed flipping the coin. The bartender was dumbfounded with his answer but started laughing in an instant.

„Lads-,“ he began while spinning into the pub but Magina stood up in a flash and grabbed him under his ruff. Some of the visitors turned back and whispered something to each other.

„One word and it will be the last thing you said. I don’t want any problems and you surely too,“ he said in his ear, lowering his voice so that only the bartender would hear. „Now, go at rest ahead and bring me the water.“ He pushed a silver coin into his hand and slowly sat back. The bartender just nodded and returned behind the counter, where he filled the tankard with clear water. He got back to him and put the jar on the table. Magina only nodded and inconspicuously eyed not only the newly-arriving guests but also the ones throwing suspicious and spiteful looks at him. He slowly sipped the water and was listening to what were others talking about. Whether about him, wandering dog that accidentally found himself at their home, ghosts in the loft, mouses in the pantry, or about a beautiful amaranthine assassin that they supposedly seen in a corridor crouching over a body and then she disappeared after a blink of an eye. He lightly smiled with one corner of his mouth at the story, because he knew who were they talking about. Until they started giving off disgusting notes about certain parts of her body, for which he would give them such a drubbing, they would not soon forget.

„Watch your tongue…“ He mumbled when he enclosed the tankard to his lips. Unfortunately, the guys sitting at one table in front of him apparently heard him. The bald one who was sitting with his back to him slowly turned and threateningly raised his eyebrows while cutting someone some slack.

„What the fuck did ye say? I probably didn’t hear right, ay lads!“ He said sarcastically with his deep harsh voice and began abominably laugh along with his equally ugly gang of tramps. Magina slowly put the tankard back on the table.

„Watch your tongue.“ He said, this time clearly, watching the jar with water and the smiles of those ugly chaps in front of him faded from their hard faces. Their sickening laughter grew silent, just like the buzz of the talking guests that turned into the direction of the corner. Deafening silence arose. The bartender rather cleared himself out to the pantry and watched the whole situation through a hole in the wall. Local drunkards that seemed to thrash their women at home, if they had any, uniformly stood up from the table and were approaching Magina with denunciative gestures of their big ponderous hands. He heard a silent mumbling nearby: „Come, let’s head home before something happens in here…“

„Bullshit. Y'all ain’t goin anywhere.“ Said the baldhead right away while precipitating his fist into his hand. „Y’all will nicely watch how we beat the shite out of this weird cocky little boy.“ The man was seemingly angered by the fact that his speech didn’t catch Magina’s attention, whilst the tankard at the table did. Thus he grabbed it and slopped the remaining water into the mage hunter’s face. He smacked it back to the table to look even more menacing, awaiting a reaction. Nothing happened.

„I didn’t even drink it all.“ Magina raised an eyebrow, wiped the water from his face, and shook out his hand at the horde of muscles standing at the end of the table. The guys wanted to grab his hand, but Magina quickly put it back on the table, as if nothing happened.

„Ya really start to piss me off…“ He growled and leaned with his forearm on Magina’s hand on the table, purposely with his full weight, so that it would hurt more. Magina felt as if his hand would fall off in minutes due to the absence of blood, or that the baldhead would crush it under his enormous heaviness. The pain made him close his eyes and slightly turned his head away from the guy, that apparently took pleasure in it.

„Let me walk away, or you’ll regret it.“ He said, still with an emotionless voice, even though his patience was already running thin. The bloke just arrogantly sneered and only added more pressure to the hand.

„Oh, so ye will try to threaten us? If ye didn’t notice, each one of u sis stronger than you, beyond that, there is more of us.“ He uttered with a disgusting grin, by which his dirty, uncared-for teeth showed themselves. From his mouth stunk not only beer and hooch but most probably his last, rotted breakfast. Magina already had pins and needles in his hand, which he slowly stopped feeling.

„I did notice it.“ He riposted tonelessly, even if he himself recognized that his voice was tinted with anger.

„Then fuck yourself.“ Growled the baldhead, lifted himself a bit up, and then leaned back, so that the already sore hand would hurt some more. Magina didn’t make it anymore. He shook his head and gazed at the tankard in front of him.

„No,“ he said and before the clumsy mountain of flesh caught what was happening, he broke the tankard upon the table and plunged one of the bigger shatters into his forearm. The man screamed from pain and slightly lifted his hand and Magina took his chance to wrench his free and hit the drunkard with his elbow into his scruff. The baldhead was so hulking that it didn’t stun him for too long. But it was enough for Magina to jump over his back and execute at least one or two of his comrades. He landed on a wooden floor, grabbed another shatter from the table and the other members of the gang flocked around him. They didn’t wait for anything and threw themselves on him. Their moves were clumsy, but if he got one of their blows, it would be a judder. One of the guys, rather fat than muscular, launched his fist into the direction of his chin. Magina crouched and hit him into the ribs, that the man kinda lost the notion of what was going on. He didn’t waste any time and plunged the shatter he took from the table into the fatso’s calf. He screamed in pain and grabbed his leg while stumbling backward. The second one, more likely twiggy, tore off Magina’s cloak, jumped on his back, and tried to strangle him. Magina grabbed him for his shirt on his back and with a swift lean forward tossed him to the ground, stamping on his chest, that he gasped for air. In a swift spin, he struck another guy behind him in the jaw that his saliva flew out of his mouth and jump-kicked the already-came-to-life baldhead in his nose and his blood gushed out. He tried to grab Magina’s leg, but he was too agile for him. He landed back on the floor and kicked him under his chin which made him incompetent for a moment. Yet still not hurt ingrown muscular man grabbed him from behind for his waist along with his hands and hove him into the air. Magina was jerking himself until he hit the man in the nose with the back of his head. This gave him a chance to wrench his arms free and try to get out of his fierce grip. He held his hands together and stroke the man into his chest. Over and over, until his grip loosened and he could extricate himself away from him. He almost didn’t evade the fatso that barely ran after him, with the intention to tumble him to the ground. Magina jumped to the side, captivated a wide stance, and shielded his chin while looking at the remaining drunkards. The poor one got over and pulled a knife out of his boot. Folks in the tavern started screaming and running out of the establishment, a miracle that they didn’t tread each other down.

„That’s not fair,“ Magina said, checking the state of other nudnicks in the porterhouse. Ingrown man, that previously raised him into the air, was leaning on a table catching his breath. The fatty was still trying to pull out the shard of the tankard to participate in the fight once more but was too floppy to do it. Pudgy baldhead pulled the sherd out of his forearm long ago and was probably wondering about what can he do to him next. Twiggy squeaker was preparing to attack him with his knife, just like his comrade – the most normal one of them all.

„Shut up, you whoreson!“ Screeched the rat-like guy and assaulted him. He was dumber and more unhandy than he thought he would be. Magina grabbed his hand, twisted it just so the knife fell off from his palm. He caught it before it hit the ground and quickly stuck it into the back of the rat-guy’s thigh, just right so that he would immobilize him but wouldn’t affect any arteria. Twiggy man screeched out of pain and berated. He just hit him in the scruff and he immediately shut up and fell face-first to the floor. The blow was just enough to stun this poor guy. As he paid attention to the rat guy and the normal one, the baldhead apparently made up what he’ll do and grabbed Magina from behind under his neck, wanting to suffocate him, and fell back first to the ground with him. The normal guy was meanwhile slowly nearing him with a knife in his hand.

„Guess who won’t have any children in here, huh?“ He growled with a laugh, showing his crooked teeth. Magina was only watching him, and when he got close enough, he kicked him into the chairs behind. Then he hit the bald mountain several times in his ribs and got from his grasp with a backward somersault over his head, shining from sweat. The lanky man didn’t wait for anything and plunged forward, scoring a cutting wound in Magina’s right shoulder. He hissed in pain, kicked him into his knee, following with his head, leaving him stunned on the ground. The apparently already rebound baldpate threw some tankard at him, which immediately shattered against the wall, shards flying all over the floor. In the meantime when the muscle-mountain was searching for another item he could throw at him, Magina got quickly closer to him, and alternately punched him into his right and left ribs, evading the elbow blows he wanted to score. Then he got further, jumped into the air, and kicked him into his chest with all the remaining strength he had. He fell to the ground, but unlike the baldhead, that smacked his head at the edge of the table, he got slowly up after a while. He was standing in one place while breathing heavily. It was more exhausting than he thought it would be. The fatso, that was still trying to pull the shard out of his calf was timorously looking at him and tried to step back. As soon as he did so, he fell on the wooden floor. Magina smiled for himself and turned his head to him, with an already stone-cold expression.

„Leave me be, ye swine! Ye don’t have to beat us up like that only for the sake of some assassin whore!“ He tried to defend himself and notify Magina about what he’s doing. After a moment, he knew he was conscious of what he’s doing. „Oh fuck…,“ he growled while Magina was nearing and was intensely hypnotizing him with his gaze. „What did we -,“ he didn’t have the opportunity to end the sentence, as Magina grabbed his head with both his hands and rammed it against his raised knee and the drunkard immediately fainted. Magina took a few steps to a nearby chair and leaned himself on it, while slowly breathing in and out. He was standing there until he heard a squeak of wood behind him. It was obvious to him, that it was the ingrown man that previously grabbed him from behind in the air. He fiercely held the backboard of the chair he was leaning on and broke it over his head in a quick spin. The muscular man got stunned and fell on the fatty with the ceramic shard in his calf. Another wooden squeak could have been heard from the front of the tavern and Magina immediately turned his head in that direction.

„Shite…, “swore the bartender and put his hand on his chest as if he was shocked. It was clear to Magina why it was like that. He had five men laying on his tavern floor, some of them having bloody wounds and he was standing above them. He crouched to the biggest of them, the baldhead, and searched his pockets. There was a full moneybag hanging behind his belt. „Ye piled them all … alone? These were the local nudnicks, and no one had the guts to encounter them…“ Magina wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying. He finally pulled out the shard from the fatty’s calf, which he was trying to pull out the whole time. Warm blood spurted out, some staining his face. He closed his eyes and raised his brow at that because he didn’t know he plunged the shatter this deep. He cut the grommet of the moneybag with it and stood back to his feet, took his cloak the squeaky rat-man pulled down from him at the start of the fight, and threw it over his shoulders. He turned at the bartender, observed him for a while, and then threw him the pouch.

„Thank you, sir, thank you.“ The bartender was bowing, because he saw this much money a tone place only when someone held a feast in the tavern. Which happened mostly once in half a year, if at all. Magina wasn’t saying anything again and just eyed the whole tavern.

„You have a mess here, mister bartender. You should clean it up.“ He said monotonously and walked out of the tavern on a cold street, lighted only with petroleum lanterns above the door of the houses. Another thanking and consecutive shifting of the furniture and then inertial bodies was audible even outside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another madman is coming out x)

He strolled the street, which already could have been a place of some fight if he didn’t eliminate the group in the tavern. Despite this, he heard a loud woman’s scream. _Damn it…_ He thought when he looked in the direction of the corridor. He could have not bothered to do something about it, but the chance that the ravishers could be Ravkel with his company was incredibly high. In addition, he wouldn’t let anyone hurt an innocent woman, more with the fact that the harassment was most of the time worse than just robbing or beating up till she would faint. He ran to the niche where he hid his weapons before heading into the tavern earlier.

Quickly, he hung them behind his belt and ran back to the street. Running into them straight and without surprise would have been really uncomfortable, so he decided another way to get in there. Magina checked the front of the house on his left. It had various prominences, girders sticking out, and protruded shutters. He thought of a way up and soon made his way on the roof. The shutters were wooden and therefore putrid, so f he wasn’t paying enough attention to where he was stepping, he could end up breaking them down, making unwanted noise. Not after a long while, he got on a moss-grown roof. He heard voices of probably three men and one woman. The fight was happening just under the second house he passed.

„The Seeker will tear you to shreds which will be eaten by rats or beggars! Enough, stop!“ The greenish woman shrieked, held by two men with the third one dangerously nearing her. The men just laughed at her threat. She was seemingly proficient because she already killed two of the men. _Seeker…?_ Magina thought about what she said but didn’t have much time. He imagined the paving of the street behind one of the guys, holding the woman by her shoulders, and blinked behind him with a turn. He got to the ground and slowly approached the man. He overlapped his mouth with his hand, got him to the side, and snapped his neck. He threw him to the ground without their leader noticing. The other two men unfortunately took note of the act and hurled at him. Without weapons. _Hm, sad._ Magina unsheathed both of his shining blades but the guys jumped on him nevertheless. One stood behind him and one in the front. He began with an attack on the one standing in front of him. He didn’t have much time to spend, because the situation with the woman wasn’t looking the best. He got near the guy, evading the first two blows. The third one was deadly, aimed right at the man’s carotid artery. His blood spurted out, some of it reaching him.

A dagger flew next to his arm, cutting him in his right shoulder. Magina hissed and frowned, turning to the guy who threw it. The man only sneered while walking around him, passing by a puddle of blood and a dead body. He jumped on him, being sure he got to stab him, but no one was there. He stabbed into the void. Magina was behind him and before the man could turn fully, his head fell off. Blood squirted out from the undirected body and fell on him. He turned his head to the side, visibly disgusted, being covered in blood, and pushed the body to the side.

The leader saw that he was in danger, got quickly back from the woman, receiving a kick from her, and began running away. It was Ravkel. He was slightly limping on one leg, had a long cloak, pricier leather clothing, and dark hair reaching his shoulders. Magina noticed the woman reached for her dagger while getting up, certainly wanting to throw it at Ravkel to kill him. He understood it, but he couldn’t let it happen. Even though he himself wished to kill him. He quickly ran in his direction and when he noticed that the woman threw the dagger, he blinked behind Ravkel and warded it off with one of his blades. He quickly grabbed him under his neck and fiercely hit him with his elbow to stun him. His adrenaline was gradually running out and he began to feel a stinging pain in his right shoulder and left arm. Blood was flowing from both of the wounds he got, but not enough for him to care about them yet. His face and torso were covered in the blood of those two nasty guys and some of the men from the tavern. He turned to the woman with a stone-like expression, whom he most probably saved not only honor and mental health but also life. And then, he blinked out, holding Ravkel by his hood.

He didn’t have enough energy to teleport again, so he threw him over his back and shoulder. To his misfortune, Tyler Estate was a long way behind the square. Ravkel was slowly waking up after a while, so when they passed by a house, Magina intentionally hit Ravkel’s head at the corner. He didn’t want to waste energy by taking him from his back, stunning him, and putting him back again. Magina approached the Tyler Estate about fifteen minutes later. He stood a few feet next to the main door, pulling a shiny green gem with silver ironwork out of his pocket. He pointed it at the cold stone wall in front of him. The illusion dispelled and a stone door appeared. A long corridor with lit up torches every ten meters. He took a turn and slowly walked up the stairs, leading to the cages with mostly mages, locked up like animals. They all were soulless. They weren’t reacting to any impulses. To anything. They weren’t communicating with each other. They couldn’t. They couldn’t even think. They were just sitting in place, staring blankly.

„Oh, the Mage Hunter. Welcome,“ Nortrom said with a smile on his face, stretching out his hands in a welcoming gesture and then put them back alongside his body. He was wearing a long, blue and grey tunic with a kilt, having a stripe of purple-golden cloth from his shoulders to his knees over it. His hair was short, dark at his neck, getting gradually white, but not with age. As Magina came out of the shadow along with the body on his shoulder, Nortrom was disgusted at the sight, but then he noticed the senseless Ravkel and the smile returned to his face.

„Excellent, excellent.“ Nortrom began laughing out loud and Magina let the body fall to the cold ground. „Just excellent. Great job.“ He placidly patted his wounded shoulder, not noticing the cut in all the blood he had on him. Magina just shriveled his brow and closed his eyes. Nortrom crouched to the stunned body and smiled maliciously.

„Thanks, Nortrom,“ he crossed his arms on his chest slightly smiled. „He won’t get out that easily.“

„No, he won’t get out ever again.“ Nortrom began laughing viciously, grabbed Ravkel by his collar, and threw him into a cell. „Farewell,“ he said, apparently satisfied, and turned to Magina, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. „You have time off for this week, Magina. You can go.“ He said as if nothing happened and nodded his head.

„Thank you, Nortrom.“ Magina shortly replied and walked off.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a Tumblr account where I also post my illustrations, whether they are about Illidan and Maiev, Dota 2, or something else. Feel free to PM me if you just want to talk ^_^ :-)


End file.
